Cricket 1900

406 CRICKET : A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. S ept . 13, 1900. W hen last year the preponderance of the former caused match after match to be unfinished and all kinds of suggestions for the reform of the game to be put forward, it was quite reasonably pointed out that the weather had been abnormally fine, and that a w et year m ight be expected to redress the balance. But though the number of showery days has been exceedingly great and bowlers have en jo jed many remarkable triumphs, while drawn matches have but seldom been attributable to hard wickets, the whole of the anticipated effect has not been realised. N oth in g has happened to silence the demand for reform . O n the contrary, it has been shown that even rain is not always an insuperable obstacle to modern batsmen. The tu if of county grounds is now so treated that wickets are often easy when soft. For an hour or more while they are drying they m ay help the bowler to a deplorable extent, but before and after this stage they are incomparably truer than the soft wickets at L ora’s of even ten years ago. If the case for reform has not actually gathered strength it is because its feasi­ bility, rather than its desirability, remains doubtful. A n enlarged w icket. a diminished bat, or a leg-before-w icket l*w of aggravated deadliness would work havoc am ong batsmen struggling with caked or “ sticky ” turf, but m ight be of little avail wben the ground is hard. The contrasts of the past season have furnished a forcible object lesson in support of such a contention. TJnfor- tunately, too, the on e-day matches that constitute the bulk of E nglish cricket, though ih ey suffer severely from closed innings and indecisive endings, are not amenable to the suggested amendments. The changes in the laws actually carried into effect have, so far as three days’ ciicket is concerned, received general approval, and have not worked badly. Perhaps the most striking application of one of the principal new rules was made in the Gentlemen v. Players match, in which M r. W oods declined to allow his opponents to follow on, and so was able virtually, though not form ally, to close his innings before the end of the second day, leaving them w ith the task of m akin g 500 runs. That his policy did not turn out prosperously was, under the peculiar circumstances, no condemnation of i t ; to lose in such a manner was much more glorious than to draw by taking the safer course. O f the experiment tried by the Marylebone Cricket Club w ith a view to further legislation it is not necessary to sjeak at length. N o t only did it fail, but it was essentially unprom ising, and even if it had been more practicable it could never have been applied universally. It is impossible not to sympathise with the notion that hits ought to be run out, but in first-class matches no demonstra­ tion was needed of its impossibility. A t the same time the willingness of the M .C .C . to make experiments deseives recognition, and if in consequence of the increase of scores any revolutionary amendment should seem urgently necessary, it m ight certainly be tried at L ord’s with advantage. S O M E A S P E C T S O F C O U N T Y C R I C K E T . The following extract from an article in the SaturdayReview is well worth consideration. The inequalities of individual play at cricket are only surpassed by the extra­ ordinary in and out running of different teams. The chief charm of county cricket, apart from the merit s of the play itself, is the fact that neither the players nor the elevens of which they form part show uniform ity from month to month or year to year. The paBt five or six seasons have afforded several striking illustrations of that “ glorious uncer­ tainty,” upon which the popularity of the gam e alone depends. Bu t through bad and good fortune the character of a team generally remains the same. Take, for instance, batting, which local conditions affect most strongly of any of the three great departments. Perhaps Surrey men have a more marked identity than any others. There are two reasons for this. Firstly, the almost uniform excellence of their own ground; secondly, the large proportion of com­ paratively young professionals. The latter are anxious and take no risks, and so settle down on a perfect wicket to play correct, neat cricket, not strikingly brilliant, but nevertheless, very effective, under favourable conditions. They are good wicket men, and use to a greater extent than the more northern counties good wicket strokes. It would not, we think, be difficult to prove that the Bide which remains for half the season at the Oval has throughout the year more easy pitches to play on than any of the leading counties, w ith the exception of Sussex. H ence this is one reason why Surrey bats­ men are so thoroughly capable of taking the utmost advantage of a true wicket, and so often fail conspicuously on a bad one. The other reason, as we said before, is the preponderance of you n g and nervous pro­ fessionals. A season or two ago the Surrey comm ittee had a reputation for injudicious and over-rapid changes. A young player is severely handicapped by such a system , which, moreover, shows a w ant of inbight and knowledge on the part of the committee. Such a matter ought to be left primarily to the ju d g ­ m ent of the captain, who is far more 1 kely to be able to decide as to the real merits of a player than pavilion critics. Select committees are generally as un­ qualified a failure as councils of war. A good judge of cricket, it has been well said, is at least as rare as a good jud ge of a horse. Such a man w ill make a pretty shrewd guess of a m an’s capabilities aud w ill, if he thinks it worth while, persevere with him for months before replacing him . This is infinitely better than the less responsible and more ignorant ju d g ­ m ent of a number of men some of whom have never taken part in high-class cricket, or seriously studied the very difficult and intricate problems of the gam e. Take another instance of the influence of local conditions, Yorkshire. This team has to play o n a good many bad wickets as well as good ones, and consequently develops a more daring and resourceful m ethod of batting, though somehow lacking the Surrey finish. W e are, of course, speaking only generally. N o one, for instance, denies that Jackson has a fine style, or that Hayw ard can play on a difficult pitch. Our point is that each team has a fixed character, which more or less imprints itself upon each man in it. Then again, we believe we are right in saying that the Yorkshire committee, when it has made up its m ind to try a man, allows him a m onth’s trial, i.e., from four to six matches in which to make or mar himself. If he gives satis­ faction he is allowed another m onth, and b y the end o f the year m ay become a regular member of the side. The ten­ dency of such a system is that a man plays more for his side and less for him ­ self, and probably is more useful all round. Such an arrangement is rapidly becom ing necessary iu the case o f amateurs. A first-rate player, who is not at the beck and call ot the club like a professional, w ill not suffer himself to be pushed iu or thrust out ju st aBit suits his selection committee. H e w ill insist on sufficient notice, and w ill not play unless some consideration is shown him. I t will be a bad day for E nglish cricket when the amateur finally retires from first-class engagements, but signs are not wanting that this will be the case unless trouble is taken in some degree to meet his convenience. The character of county cricket has greatly changed of late years. T o play regularly is practically to give oneself up to the game during a third part of the year. Y ery few can or wish to do this. There is therefore grave danger of an increasing preponderance of the professional element, and this can only be combated by affording opportu­ nities to the amateur of taking part in the matches. I f however he is to be con­ sidered merely as a stopgap m any of the best w ill refuse to play, and tbe game w ill irretrievably suffer. The teams which may be classed as amateur, such as M iddlesex or Somerset, are just those whose general character is at once most easy and most difficult to define. They possess all the dash and independence of the amateur, while their individual members have probably seen more of the gam e than most professionals. They have none of the special local characteristics which mark the pro­ fessional teams, and very often, ow ing to the frequent changes necessitated by absence, show lack of combination or even want of practice. This is the sole reaton in our opinion w hy amateur cricket is to olten referred to as inferior to professional, and we w ill even go so far as to say that the definition “ firBt- class ” is really applied not so much to the most brilliant— though of course the element of brilliancy is inevitably included in the meaning of the term— but to the most practised. The main difference between the so-called first and second claBS cricketer lies in sober accuracy as compared with dangerous daring. There are hundreds of cricketers